Sharks of the Mediterranean: An Illustrated Study of All Species - Softcover

This is the most complete, beautiful and up-to-date book on sharks of the Mediterranean Sea ever written. The book opens with an exhaustive general part on the biology and ecology of sharks of the Mediterranean Sea, also covering human/shark interactions, research and conservation in the area. It then goes on with a detailed section providing information on the following aspects of the 50 species of sharks recorded in the area: classification, common names, morphology, size, reproduction, diet, habitat, distribution, behavior, fishery, status, references. The text is supported with many pictures, including beautiful and rare photos and extremely accurate drawings by the first author, which are the result of a lifetime portraying sharks. The text is scientific and detailed, but all technical terms are explained. This book is useful for those that work with the sea and its creatures, from the marine biologist to the fisherman, from the fish market worker to the museum curator.

Alessandro De Maddalena is the curator of the Italian Great White Shark Data Bank and a founding member of the Mediterranean Shark Research Group. He is the author of 17 books on sharks and teaches a course in shark biology in Simon's Town, South Africa, in association with Apex Shark Expeditions. Harald Bansch is the chief biologist of the Vieques Shark Research Field Station investigating the population dynamics of coastal reef sharks. He has been a collaborator for the Shark Research Center of Walker's Cay, Bahamas, and he has joined several research expeditions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) / National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in Mississippi and in the Northern Atlantic, U.S.A., studying populations and agonistic behaviour of sharks of the genus Carcharhinus on field stations in Mozambique, Fiji and in the Caribbean. He lives in Germany. Walter Heim a mechanical engineer, started photographing sharks in 2001 and with his daughter Jessica has developed techniques to photograph mako and blue sharks at close range. His pictures have appeared in many books and wildlife magazines.